Traction drive power transmissions which transmit power to a driven part through a traction drive mechanism have attracted attention in the field of automobiles or industrial machinery, and in recent years research and development thereon have advanced. The traction drive mechanism is a power transmitting mechanism. Unlike conventional drive mechanisms it does not use any gears, which enables reduction of vibration and noise as well as providing a smooth speed change in high-speed rotation. An important goal in the automobile industry is an improvement in the fuel consumption of automobiles. It has been suggested that if the traction drive is applied to the transmission of automobiles to convert the transmission to the continuous variable-speed transmission the fuel consumption can be reduced by at least 20% compared to conventional transmission systems, since the drive can be always be in the optimum-fuel consumption region of an engine. Recent studies have resulted in the development of materials having high fatigue resistance as well as in theoretical analysis of traction mechanisms. As regards the traction fluid, the correlation of traction coefficients is gradually being understood on a level of the molecular structure of the components. The term "traction coefficient" as used herein is defined as the ratio of the tractional force which is caused by slipping at the contact points between rotators which are in contact with each other in a power transmission of the rolling friction type to the normal load.
The traction fluid is required to be comprised of a lubricating oil having a high traction coefficient. It has been confirmed that a traction fluid possessing a molecular structure having a naphthene ring exhibits a high performance. "Santotrack.RTM." manufactured by the Monsanto Chemical Company is widely known as a commercially available traction fluid. Japanese Patent Publication No. 35763/1972 discloses di(cyclohexyl)alkane and dicyclohexane as traction fluids having a naphthene ring. This patent publication discloses that a fluid obtained by incorporating the above-mentioned alkane compound in perhydrogenated (.alpha.-methyl)styrene polymer, hydrindane compound or the like has a high traction coefficient. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 191797/1984 discloses a traction fluid containing an ester compound having a naphthene ring. It discloses that an ester obtained by the hydrogenation of the aromatic nucleus of dicyclohexyl cyclohexanedicarboxylate or dicyclohexyl phthalate is preferred as the traction fluid.
As mentioned above, the development of continuous variable-speed transmissions has progressed in recent years. The higher the traction coefficient of the traction fluid the larger the allowable transmission force in the same device. This contributes to a reduction in the size of the entire device resulting in a reduction in the emission of polluting exhaust gases. Therefore, there is a strong demand for a fluid having a traction coefficient which is as high as possible. However, the use of a traction fluid which exhibits the highest performance of all the currently commercially available fluids in such a traction drive device gives unsatisfactory performance with respect to the traction coefficient, and is also rather expensive. The traction fluid which has been proposed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 35763/1971 contains Santotrack or its analogue as a component and, therefore, is also unsatisfactory with respect to its performance and cost.
The present inventors have made extensive and intensive studies with a view to developing a traction fluid which not only exhibits a high traction coefficient but is also relatively inexpensive. As a result, the present inventors have found that the incorporation of an ester or its derivative having 1 to 3 cyclohexyl rings can provide an economical high-performance base oil fluid. The present invention has been made based on this finding.